Kamen Rider Xtreme Act 3: Ice and Fire
by guncannon109
Summary: After the run in with Fury and the loss of two people that he held dear, how will Alex continue on? Find out as the story of Xtreme continues in the next installment, Act 3: Ice and Fire.
1. Introduction

**Note: **This is a continuation of a story already in progress. Please read Xtreme Act One Dopant Hunter and Act Two Wind and Earth before continuing on from here.

**The Story so Far**

Alex Darwin, a typical high school student has been given a mysterious device now only as the X Driver from his late mother. Through the X Driver along with the powers contained in small USB like devices called Gaia Memories, Alex became a Kamen Rider and now uses it's power to fight back those who wish to use the power of Gaia Memories to cause harm onto others.

As time went on, two other riders joined up with him named Gale and Rock. Together they were a strong team and it seemed that they could handle any foe that came their way. Then, everything changed when the Fury Dopant attacked. Fury tore at the riders and their closest friends were they were the weakest and by the end Alex was forced to give up his powers and return to his normal life.


	2. Episode 18: Y, the Girl Named Snowstorm

**Episode 18: ****Y****, the Girl Named Snowstorm**

It was a calm and cold night as a strange wind blew over Ardent City.

The roar of an engine filled the air as a man ran down an alleyway. He stopped and leaned over a trashcan to catch his breath before the glare of headlights blinded him as a deep green dirt bike style motorcycle turned the corner and roars down the alleyway. Cole breaks on a hard turn to the left right in front of the man and shuts off the engine.

"You've been stirring up a lot of trouble tonight. Andrew Dekerman," Cole said dismounting from his bike, "Or should I say... Scam."

"Come on man, give me a break here," The man pleaded, "Just let me go, you'll never have to see me again, promise!"

"You've been on a country wide scamming spree for the past month and a half," Cole stated as he pulled out his smasher from his shoulder armour, "Promising people to make their dreams come true only to leave them crushed. Tell me, did you give those people a break?"

"Fine then, take me in," Scam said raising his arm in the air, "But I won't make it easy for you!" He shouted as he whipped out a green gaia memory and jammed it into a barcode on the palm of his hand.

"SCAM!" The memory shouted as he transformed into a pale white creature covered in black spots with several spikes of the same color jutting out of his body

"Try this on for size!" He shouted at Cole as he conjured a barrage of gunmetal black slivers with a deep violet aura around and hurled them towards the rider who stood in front of him.

"Damn," Cole whispered as he evaded the slivers and whacked a few with his hammer. Cole looked down the alley to find that Scam had run off, "Why do they always run?" Cole hit a button on the side of his helmet, "Tara, target is on the run down Burrow Drive."

"Roger, we're on it," Tara said through the other end of the radio.

"Alright, I'll be coming around. Rock out," Cole said getting back on his bike and driving down the road in pursuit of the Dopant.

Scam turned around a sharp corner, hope over a tall fence and dashed out the back of the alleyway and onto the street on the other side. He managed to get a few feet out of the alley before a gust of wind rushed towards him knocking him to the ground.

"I swear, out of all the dopants we've encounter you're the worst," A voice called out as a pair white boots came into Scam's eyesight. He looked up to see Tara in her Gale form standing above looking down at him, "You could've at least taken the finisher like a man," she shook her head and sighed, "but alas you chose the cowards way out."

Scam coughed a bit before looking over to Tara, "You guys have been on my back for far too long," he rose back to his feet and formed more of the same slivers he hurled at Cole moments ago, "I'm ending this chase right now!"

Scam hurled the slivers at Tara as the yellow rider evaded the slivers in way that made appear as she was dancing around each and every one of them each movement flowing into the next with style and grace.

"This is getting a bit tiring so I think we should wrap this up now," She said twirled around in a full circle once until she faced Scam on the other side of her. She reached for the flail on the back of her belt and swung it at the dopant, wrapping Scam tightly in the chain bringing him to the ground once again.

"Damn bitch, you'll pay for this!" Scam shouted.

"Yeah… hate to break it to you but," She said said pulling out her slicer and removing her memory from her driver, "Your rampage, ends here pal."

Tara placed her Gale memory into the hilt of her slicer, "Gale! Maximum Drive!" The memory shouted as a charge up sound erupted from her slicer.

"Gale Tornado!" Tara shouted as she threw her slicer at Scam causing him to explode on impact.

As the smoke cleared, Andrew fell down hard on the ground along with the fragments of what was his gaia memory as Cole ran out of the alleyway and noticed the aftermath of the quarrel between Gale and Scam. Tara forced Andrew's hands behind his back and bound him with a pair of cuffs before pulling him to his feet and looking over to Cole.

Tara smirked under her mask, "Situation cleared."

Cole sighed, then proceeded to remove his gaia memory from his driver and revert back to his civilian form, "Must you always show off so much?" he said with a slight laugh.

"We got the guy didn't we?" Tara asked. "Let's just call up the boys and let'em know that we took him down alright."

"I guess that's true. Speaking of..." Cole walked towards Andrew and knelt down in front of him. "Scam, does the name 'Derek Maverick' ring any bells?"

"Never heard of him," Andrew returned.

"Then how about 'Fury'?" Cole asked again.

"You riders and your demand for names," Andrew laughed, "So you're looking for Fury is that it? Yeah I've heard of him, but I've never met in person... nor do I know anyone that has and lived."

"Well would you know anyway of tracking him down?" Cole demanded.

"Were you born yesterday or something?" Andrew laughed, "META and their commanders are always shrouded in mystery. Some people don't even believe that they exist." He said pulling out a small pill from his back pocket.

"Wait, what the hell are you doing?" Cole demanded while Andrew slipped it the pill into his mouth.

He laughed, "You know nothing of hell," He whispered biting down on the pill , "See you there… Kamen Rider." He said with a smirk before a white foam filled his mouth and he fell as limp as a bone in Cole's grasp.

"Damn it!" Cole shouted throwing Andrew's lifeless body to the ground.

"Hey," Tara said as she placed her hand on Cole's shoulder, "Take it easy… You think Alex would like to see you like this?"

"True," Cole sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone before hitting a few numbers and placing it up to his ear. "Sampson," he said after a few rings, "We secured the target but… he didn't make it… Uh huh… alright, we'll do that."

"What's the word from the boss?" Tara asked as Cole slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Wait for support to get here," Cole said sitting down on the side of the road, "They'll handle the rest from there."

"Always going by the book," Tara sighed as she removed her memory from her driver and reverted back to her civilian form before sitting down beside Cole, "Though I guess it's one of your better traits I guess."

Cole's eye twitched, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you don't know how to take a compliment," Tara said with a smirk, "Big guy."  
"That reminds me," Cole said turning back to Tara, "Why did you bring up Alex a moment ago?"

"No reason, just thinking about him is all." Tara proclaimed, "You think he'll be alright?"

Cole sighed, "I hope so."

{Insert Opening Theme - Extreme Dream}

Alex sat at the very back of his third period math class in the desk furthest away from the window with all of his focus on the notebook and textbook in front of him, paying no attention to what was going on around him. Though there really wasn't much to pay attention to, as the rest of the class was just as inactive as he was. The class and the rest of the school for that matter wasn't very energetic as of late, and it was noticeable to everyone… especially Alex.

After a while the sound of footsteps began to approach him, though he did not seem to notice them. In a few short moments, something tapped him on the shoulder but he didn't react to it. It tapped his shoulder once again, but again nothing.

"Hey, I'm trying to talk to you!" A voice shouted as Alex was turned around by force to see Cole standing in front of him.

"Oh…" Alex said in a low voice. He turned back to his work, "Hi Cole… what's going on?"

"I'm checking to see if you're okay," Cole stated.

"Of course I am… I've never been better," Alex said keeping his eyes fixed on the work in front of him, "Was there anything else you needed?"

"Don't lie to me," Cole said placing his hand down on Alex's desk, Alex slowly balling his hands into fists. "I know that you're shaken up by what happened, but could you at le-"

"Could I at least what Cole? Alex shouted back turning to look Cole dead in the eye, "If you have some magical button that will fix everything and make it so that the whole thing never happened then I'd love to hear it!" He looked around to see that the entire class including Ms Foster was staring directly at them. Alex turned back to his work, "Just… leave me alone will you."

Cole sighed, "Fine, I'll talk to you later then." He said before turning away from Alex and walking back over to his desk.

Alex watched in the corner of his eye as Cole sat back down at his desk by the window on the other side of the room. Before too long, Alex's eye drifted over to the two empty desks behind Cole. He gulped, then turned his eyes back to his work.

After a long bit of awkward silence, there came a knock at the door. Ms Foster slowly walked over to the door and pulled it open.

"Oh, hello," She said as the person at the door handed her a note. She read of what was on the note, "Oh… I see, alright then. Come right in."

Ms Foster walked back into the room as a girl about Alex's age with navy blue hair and cold teal eyes followed her. The girl wore a pale purple and grey sweater over top of a long sleeved purple shirt and black shorts, along with white flat shoes and violet knee high socks.

"Ehem," Ms Foster said getting the attention of the class sans Alex, "Class, allow me to introduce to you Sayuri Fobiki-"

"Shiore," The navy haired girl said quietly.

Ms Foster turned to the navy haired girl, "Um… excuse me?"

"It's pronounced Shiore," The girl explained, "Shiore Fubuki."

"O-oh… Sorry about that," Ms Foster said as her face began to turn a bright shade of red, "Ms Fubuki has just transferred here today however due to how late we are in the semester she won't officially be enrolled until early September so she'll just be seeing what the school is like. I know it's rather sudden, but help her out if she ever gets stuck and needs a little help alright."

Shiore bowed to the class, "I hope to get along with you all for as long as I am here."

"Now let's see…" Ms Foster said looking around the sea of desks in front of her, "Ah, there are two desks open behind Cole. Why not take one of those ones by the window."

"Okay," Shiore said as she proceeded down the row to the far left of the room where Alex was sitting not paying much attention to her.

As Shiore passed by Alex she stopped for a moment, she looked over to him in the corner of her eye, then continued walking. She took the long way around the classroom before finally reaching Cole by the window. She paused for a moment before calmly sitting down at the desk furthest away from him.

Once Shiore took her seat, the class fell silent once again. The silence went on for a good half hour until it was eventually broken by the ring of Cole's cellphone.

He fished it out of his pocket and brought it up to his ear, "Hello?... I see… I'll be right there." Cole slipped his phone back into his pocket before getting up from his desk and making his way to the front of the class, Shiore following him with her eyes.

Cole walked up to Ms Foster at her desk at the front of the class.

"Miss," He said grabbing her attention, "I just remembered, I have a doctor's appointment in about an hour. So I'll need to be leaving soon."

"Do you have a note?" Ms Foster asked.

"Right here," Cole returned handing her a small slip of paper.

Ms Foster took the note and looked it over before handing it back to Cole, "Alright, everything checks out. You may go now."

Cole took the note back from her, "Thank you," He said bowing a bit before walking away from the teacher's desk.

Cole made his way down the aisle across from the window. He past Alex as Alex looked up to him for a moment the two making eye contact as Cole passed by before he walked out the door at the back of the room.

Shiore looked over to Alex in the corner of her eye. She sighed quietly, "Anata ni... hakken."

{End of Part A}

{Star of Part B}

Cole ran down the second floor hallway until he came to a stairwell behind a pair of large doors. He pushed the doors open and stepped into the stairwell to see Tara leaning against the rail as if she had been waiting there for him to arrive.

Upon noticing Cole, Tara's usual smirk appeared on her face. "You sure took your sweet time getting here."

"Sorry about that," Cole said returning a grin to Tara, "got held up a little bit."

"and Alex?" Tara asked.

Cole looked down to the ground, "He's… not coming."

Tara looked over the edge of the rail, "Still shaken up about what happened with the lizard?"

"You have no idea," Cole returned. "You think he made the right decision? To quit I mean."

"That's something that only Alex can decide," Tara said she swung over the rail, "But enough about that. You're here now so let's get going," She said before she dropped down the gap in the stairs disappearing from sight.

Cole rolled his eyes, "Always in such a hurry," he said before running down the stairs after her. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"Sampson told us the whole shabang!" Tara shouted, "Some cold blooded looking guy downtown, not too far from here by flying!" Tara said jumping off the rail, "Though with your new ride I'm sure you'll get there right after I do. Though I'll probably get it all done by the time you do."

"Don't you think you'll be needing help with it?" Cole asked.

Tara turned to face Cole looking him in the eye, "You're kidding right?" She placed her hand on Cole's shoulder, "I'm always going to need your help Cole," she said with her usual smirk, "After all, who else has armor strong enough to take on all the fire?"

Cole sighed, "So in other words… I'm the decoy."

"You got it," Tara exclaimed before slapping Cole on both side's of his face with the palms of her hands. She turned away from Cole on the heel of left foot and proceeded over to the door just behind her leading to outside, "Now, let's nab this guy like the good old days!"

Alex made his way to his fourth period science class. He walked up to the door of the classroom and grabbed the handle, he gulped and then pushed it open. He looked around the classroom which was rather empty considering that class hadn't started yet. He looked down to the ground then sighed before slowly walking over to his desk at the far side of the room.

He dropped his bag on the ground and then sat down in the chair at his desk as the bell rang signaling the start of class.

"So what was your friend up to last period?" A voice called out to him.

"GAH!" Alex shouted nearly jumping out of his seat as he turned to see Shiore sitting in the chair beside him looking over handouts from her other classes. "Hey... Shiore, right?"

Shiore pulled her attention away from the paper in front of her and stared blankly into space for a moment, then responded, "That is my name."

"Okay, just checking…," Alex returned, "My name is Alex by the way… Darwin, Alex Darwin,"

"Pleasure" Shiore said quietly turning away from Alex as several students flooded into the room.

"So, if you don't mind me asking…" Alex began, trying to jump start a conversation, "what exactly is with you transferring this late into the semester anyway?"

"Reasons," Shiore said, keeping herself turned away from Alex.

"Okay… what kind of reasons?" Alex asked

Shiore sighed, "Why do you want to know?"

"Hm? Oh… no real reason I guess," Alex proclaimed, "I guess I was just curious is all… I mean it is a little odd for someone to transfer to another school before just as the school year is ending."

"There's a lot of odd things in this world," Shiore said keep her eyes on the handouts in front of her, "Some of which is best left untouched."

"I guess," Alex returned as Shiore tore out a page from her notebook and started scribbling something down onto it, "but even so, no one transfers schools this late unless there was some big reason as to wh-"

At that moment Shiore grabbed all of her stuff, got up from her chair and slapped the slip of paper onto the desk before walking out the door and slamming it behind her. Alex looked down to the note Shiore left, but all that all that was written on it were five characters that Alex did not recognize, "尻込みする"

Alex scratched his head, "Uh… what?" A few quiet murmurs filled the room as Alex turned around to see various people in the class giving him snide looks with a bit of snickering, "Fine!" He shouted as he turned away from the class, "and good riddance too!"

Downtown, Cole rode his bike up to a construction site located in Ardent City's financial district. He hopped off his bike as Tara touched down beside him glider in hand. The site had been abandoned for sometime now, except for a line of police officers that stood guard at the site making sure that no one gets in or out.

"See anything?" Tara asked as her glider shifted back into Kree before shifting again into her driver and wrapping around Tara's wrist.

"Not yet," Cole returned as he walked up to the site attempting to make his way in, "We're going to need to get a closer look."

"Excuse me sir," an officer said placing his arm in front of Cole, "This site is off limits, no one is allowed in or o-" Before the officer could finish speaking, Cole held a silver badge up to the officer's face, "Oh… you two are freelance agents from Sampson?" He said awkwardly stepping aside and lifting a bit of yellow tape up, "My mistake, go right in."

"Thank you," Cole said as he ducked under the tape and stepped into the site. Tara shortly following after, sticking her tongue out to the officer as she walked by him.

The officer blinked for a moment, then shook his head, "Kids today."

Cole and Tara pulled out their respective gaia memories and hit the buttons on just below their respective labels, "Rock! Gale!"

"Henshin!" The two of them called out as they placed each of their memories into the slots on their drivers and switched them into their activation positions.

"Rock! Gale!" Their drivers shouted, Tara being swarmed by a tornado which formed her armor as rocks came up from the ground around Cole before latching on to him becoming his.

"Keep your guard up," Cole instructed pulling out his smasher.

"I'll be careful," Tara said with a slight laugh in her voice. She unclipped her flail from the back of her belt, "No need to worry about little old me."

"Alright then," Cole returned, "spread out."

"I'd rather fan out," Tara retorted.

"Not the time Tara," Cole sighed.

"Party pooper," Tara pouted.

"Tell you what," Cole turned to Tara, "If you behave we'll go to that cafe you like so much."

Tara gasped, "For real!"

"For real." Cole nodded, "But only after we're finished here."

"EEEEEE! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Tara shouted in glee before taking off in a random direction down the construction site, "Meet back here when we find the guy!"

"What am I going to do with that girl?" Cole asked to himself shaking his head. He turned to the other side of the site and proceeded cautiously down the path before him, "Not like I can blame her though I guess. Can't imagine anyone wanting to stay in place like this for longer than they would need to."

As Cole walked down the path through the site, he heard a quiet growl fill the dead air behind him. He turned around and tightened his grip on his hammer.

He walked over in the direction the growl came from. As he stepped forward, his foot slipped out from under him causing him to fall to the ground, "What the..." he said as he felt the ground under him which, to his surprise, turned out to be rather cold and slick, "Ice?"

The growl became louder and now seemed to be emanating from behind Cole. He turned around as he got sight of a white wolf lunging out of the shadows. Cole swung his smasher as the beast grabbed the handle within it's jaws before pinning Cole to the ground.

"Well then," Cole said gritting his teeth, "looks like we won't be here for much longer." As he spoke, a pale white boot set down on the ground by his shoulder. He looked up to what appeared to be a pale white samurai standing above him, "... or not."

On the other side of the site, Tara leaned against a steel girder panting heavily. "Alright, that should be head start enough," Tara said, forcing herself to stand upright. "Now then," She added, surveying her surroundings, "Where are you my little dopant?"

At that moment, the air became filled with the sound of claws scratching over metal. Tara then quickly turned on her heel to where the scratching was coming from, tightening her grip on the chain of her flail.

Tara saw a small barrel move in the corner of her eye. She turned her foot slightly over to the barrel, "There you are."

Tara whipped her flail at the barrel knocking it over on it's side, however, to her surprise nothing was behind it. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, after a few moments her right ear twitched slightly. Tara once again whipped her flail over to her right hand side passed a pile of raw construction materials and with a small flick of her wrist it snagged onto something.

She whipped her flail back over to her pulling out a white wolf with an icy coat which fell down hard on the ground in front of her. The wolf squirmed a bit on the ground as it tried to break out of the chains, but soon halted it's movement.

"A dog?" Tara thought aloud. She walked up to the wolf and knelt down beside it, "Is it possible for a single animal to be the cause of all this?... Of course not, the must be someone or… something that's commanding it to do so."

As Tara spoke the wolf began to melt through the chains that restrained it. In a few short moments the beast that attempted to ambush Tara was only a puddle of water. The puddle then moved a few feet away from Tara and reformed back into the wolf. It glared at her for a moment, then ran off in the direction Tara had come from.

"A wolf… made of ice?" Tara thought to herself, she then jumped to her feet, "Oh crap!"

Tara reattached her flail to the back of her belt and took off after the wolf. She ran down the path she came that was now lined with small puddles in the shape of wolf paws,

"Cole, where are you?" She thought as her eyes looked over to the site frantically. "I have to warn him, before it's to-" Before she could finish her thought, she slammed hard into something which knocked her to the ground. "Ow ow ow," she said rubbing her forehead, " what did I hit?" She looked in front of her to she what she ran into, and there, frozen in ice… was Cole.

Before she could even react to the sight in front of her, two wolves with the same likeness to the one she encountered early jumped down from the scaffolding that surrounded them and encircled Tara.

They growled at Tara, scratching their claws against the ground as if they were planning to attack her.

"Calm yourselves," a voice called out. Tara and the wolves then looked over to the right as a figure in pale white samurai style armor and a belt buckle in the shape of a wolf's head emerged from the shadow of the scaffolding, "You don't need to kill the poor things."

"So you're their master I take it?" Tara asked.

"Master isn't the first word I would use," The samurai returned, "but you're pretty much correct." The samurai then raised a katana with a pale blue edge adorned with a violet gemstone at the hilt of the blade up to Tara, "Now Tatsumaki, allow me to ask a question of you… where is Ryuga Hono's heir?"

"Give me one good reason why Is should answer any of your questions!" Tara demanded.

The samurai looked over to Cole frozen in ice, "Iwa over there doesn't seem to be looking very good… does he?"

Tara rose to her feet, "What the hell are you even talking about? This is just another attempt to get at Alex isn't it?"

"Alex?" The samurai asked.

"Well in case you didn't know he quit so there's no reason for you to go after him anymore!" Tara shouted pulling out her slicer before hurling it at the samurai, "So back off!"

The samurai vanished without a trace as Tara's slicer whipped through the air and into the scaffolding behind where the samurai once stood. Tara looked around panting rapidly in search of the samurai. Tara then felt a sudden pinch in the side of her neck which caused her to fall to the ground.

"Sorry Tatsumaki, it's nothing personal," the samurai said as it reappeared above her. "I'm on a mission and I cannot allow you, Iwa or anyone else to get in my way."

Tara tried to get up, but quickly discovered that she was unable to.

"Don't bother trying to move. I stuck a pressure point in your neck, you're not going anywhere for awhile," The samurai stated, "I'm only after Hono, once I take care of him I'll be out of your hair… Thank you for your assistance in tracking him down."

As the samurai finished speaking, it vanished from sight taking the two wolves along with it. Once it left, the ice that engulfed Cole faded away. Once freed from the ice, Cole's smasher hit the ground as if Cole had been in the process of swinging it over his head with both hands before he had been frozen.

Cole panted heavily for a moment before he noticed Tara on the ground behind him.

"Tara! Are you alright?" He shouted as he rushed over to her. He took hold of Tara's arm and yanked her gaia memory from her driver as her armor dissolved into a golden whirlwind.

Tara took a deep breath before looking up to Cole, "Call Alex! We need to warn him!"

At the school, the final bell rang signaling the end of the day. Alex quickly backed up his things and made his way to the door. As he exited the classroom, he finished out his cell phone and flipped it open.

"No bars and low battery… might want to save that just in case," Alex said to himself before shutting off his phone and putting it back into his pocket.

"Oh Alex!" The teacher called out.

"Yeah!" Alex shouted back.

"If you're going by the office, would you mind taking the attendance down for me?" The teacher asked.

"Sure thing," Alex returned stepping back into the classroom.

Back at the construction site, Cole dialed Alex's number as quickly as he could.

He pressed his phone up to his ear as his foot tapped rapidly, "Come on man, pick up."

The phone rang once before flipping to an automated message, "Hey hey, Maddy here! Sorry, but Alex can't talk right now. Please leave a message and he'll call you back as soon as he can!"

"Damn it!" Cole shouted as he slammed his fist against a wall of concrete beside him.

"Maybe his phone died or something," Tara suggested.

"I don't see how that changes anything," Cole returned, "No matter how we rationalize it he's still in trouble."

"Well, why don't we just head back to the school and see if we can beat that guy there?" Tara asked. "I think I can move now… so we should be good."

"You sure about that?" Cole asked back.

"Yeah," Tara said as she attempted to pull herself to her feet, "I think I can manage."

"Easy there," Cole said grabbing on to Tara and helping her up, "don't want to rush things now."

Tara grinned, "Thanks Cole."

"I appreciate the gesture," Cole said, "But you should wait to thank me until after we put that samurai in his place."

Alex walked out the front entrance of the main school building and slowly made his way down the hill to the street below.

As he walked down the hill he looked up to the sky. He sighed, "I hope Cole and Tara are alright without me."

As he put his left foot down onto the ground, he felt it slip out from under him causing him to fall onto his back.

"OW! Not fun!" he exclaimed in pain as he felt the ground under him which, to his surprise, turned out to be rather cold and slick, "What the…" He looked under his hand to see a puddle of frozen water below it, "Ice? In the middle of June?"

"How does it feel, now that the tables are turned?" A voice called out.

Alex turned around to see a familiar face covered in navy blue hair standing behind him, "Oh… Shiore. Thank god it's just you."

"I wouldn't be saying that if I were you," Shiore said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue gaia memory marked with a Y made of ice.

Alex's eyes widened, "Shiore… you're a dopant?"

"Worse," Shiore returned as she unzipped her sweater revealing a driver with a buckle that resembled the head of a wolf.

"For the honor of my clan, your end shall be now," Shiore proclaimed before hitting the button below the label of her gaia memory.

"Yuki!" Her memory shouted.

Shiore took in a deep breath, then exhaled, "Henshin."

To Be Continued

{Insert Ending Theme - I'll Believe}

**Next time on Kamen Rider Xtreme: **

**Shiore has Alex backed into a corner, while Cole and Tara rush to his rescue.**

**Will the two riders be able to make it in time?**

**And will Alex ever be able to forgive himself and reclaim his position as a Kamen Rider?**

**All will be decided when Kamen Rider Xtreme Act Three continues with episode 19:**  
**Between Comrades. ****_Xtreme, do you regret your decision?_**


	3. Episode 19: Between Comrades

**Episode 19: Between Comrades**

Shiore took in a deep breath, then exhaled, "Henshin."

Shiore slapped her memory into a slot at the side of her driver in the same spot as Alex's maximum drive slot, only instead of activating a maximum drive she turned the slot ninety degrees so that the top of her memory faced away from Alex.

"Son of Hono, In the name of the wolf of snow…" Shiore said as she ran the slot on her driver along a track until it clicked into her buckle, "your end has come."

"Yuki!" Shiore's driver shouted as a blizzard rose around her encasing her in ice.

The ice soon cracked to pieces to reveal her donning the armor of a white samurai covered in ice. Sharp pale blue eyes and a tiara made of ice behind a Y shaped crest and a violet gemstone adorned her cold steel mask that sat in the middle of her pale white helmet.

"Well don't just sit there," Shiore said as she reached to sheath on her belt and drew a katana with a violet gemstone on it's guard and aimed it at Alex, "Get up and fight… Kamen Rider."

"Wait a minute," Alex pleaded as he got back on his feet, "how do you-" Before Alex could finish speaking, Shiore vanished from sight as Alex felt something slice across his cheek. He placed his hand against his cheek before raising it in front of his face, "... blood?"

"Spare your pleading," Shiore said as she reappeared behind Alex, raising her sword against his neck, "It's useless."

"Just tell me, what's this all abo-" Alex turned around to face Shiore before being kicked back to the ground.

"Don't play dumb, you know what you did," Shiore proclaimed as she whipped her sword to her side, "and now you're going to atone for actions. So stand and fight."

Alex sat silent looking down to the ground, "I-I… I can't."

Shiore lowered her sword, "Why not?"

Alex closed his eyes and sighed, "I just can't… not anymore."

Shiore raised an eyebrow, "and why is that?"

"I just… can't," Alex returned as he began to choke up, "Not after what I allowed to happen."

"Urusai!" Shiore shouted at Alex shutting him up, "You sure have a lot of nerve. You think after such the crimes you've committed that you can just hang up your sword and not be responsible for the blood on it's blade? I'm sorry but that's not how the world works."

"I already know that… I've done some pretty stupid stuff in the past, so I guess I have no excuse," He turned his head up to Shiore and looked her in the eye, "So… make it short."

"I expected you to put up a more of a fight," Shiore sighed, "One such as yourself doesn't deserve mercy, but even so... I shall grant your final request."

Shiore removed her memory from her driver and placed it into the hilt of her sword. "Yuki! Maximum Drive!" Her memory shouted as the blade of her sword changed from blue to white.

Shiore raised her sword high above her head as several blades made of ice formed around her, "Proceed on your way to oblivion."

{Insert Opening Theme - Extreme Dream}

Shiore swung her sword down to the ground causing all the blades around her to fire off in Alex's direction, Alex crossing his arms over his face bracing for the impact. However, before they made contact with him a giant whirlwind formed between him and the blades forcing them back at Shiore, Shiore jumping out of the way before they hit her.

Soon after, a yellow rider descended from the air landing in between Alex and Shiore.  
"Tara?" Alex asked.

"The one and only," The yellow rider said as she turned to face Alex, "Superstar."

"Where's Cole?" Alex asked.

"On his way," Tara stated, "I figured something was up, so we went on ahead. We cut it close Looks we made it just in time."

"A little too close if you ask me."

"You know, it's not a very good idea to attack someone at a place that they spend at least six hours at every single day of the week," She quickly pulled out her slicer, "especially when said person has two super powered friends that are more than willing to kick the asses of anyone who gives him trouble."

"Rather ironic that it's you Tatsumaki who's saying that in the defense of a member of the Hono Clan," Shiore proclaimed.

"Since when does putting your hyde on the line for a friend have anything to do with iron?" Tara returned, "Superstar and I may argue from time to time but we've still got his back no matter what. Sure, we may no longer be partners but we're still friends."

"Friends?" Shiore laughed a bit, "Spare me the sentimental nonsense."

"We would but it isn't nonsense," Tara retorted, "You might not know this but being friends means that you look out for one another eve- no," She looked back to Alex, "especially when times aren't looking so good."

"Well aren't you the optimist," Shiore said as she gripped her sword with both of her hands, "let's see if you're able to back up those words."

"Gladly," Tara returned raising her slicer to Shiore.

Without a second's delay Tara charged at Shiore with a swing of her slicer, Shiore parrying the wind rider's swing with her sword. Shiore broke the parry before returning with a swing of her sword. Tara jumped up out of the blade's path before flipping herself over Shiore's shoulder. As Tara jumped over her, Shiore jabbed her sword at her which Tara blocked with one of her slicer's four blades before landing on the other side of Shiore.

The two rider's glared at each other eye to eye as Shiore reached to her belt and pulled out two kunai knives before hurling them at Tara. Tara twirled her slicer around in front of her batting the knives off course to either side of her before charging at Shiore again as Shiore pulled out another kunai with her left hand and raised her arm to throw it at Tara once again. However, before the knife left the grip of her hand, Tara grabbed Shiore by the wrist and yanked the knife out of her hand.

Shiore then balled her left hand into a fist and punched Tara in her gut. Tara grunted as her slicer fell from her hand and down to the ground. She gritted her teeth before grabbing Shiore's wrist again, this time with both her hands as she jumped into the air and flipped herself over Shiore. As she landed on the ground on the other side of Shiore, she pulled the ice rider's arm and threw her to the ground.

"Now," Tara shouted holding Shiore's kunai up in the air with both her hands, "Your rampage… ends here!" Without a second thought Tara rammed the kunai right into Shiore's chest forcing it right through to the other side.

"So you think…" Shiore whispered as cracks began to form where Tara stabbed her. She tilted her head back to face Alex who knelt on the ground behind her, "Consider yourself lucky this time Hono… but I shall not rest until your blood stains my sword."

At that moment Shiore shattered into several shards of ice which quickly melted into a giant puddle of water.

"Okay, that trick is really starting to get on my nerves," Tara shouted as she threw Shiore kunai to the ground before removing her gaia memory from her driver, reverting her to her civilian form. She jumped back to her feet, "What the hell is that guy's deal anyway?"

"You mean girl," Alex sighed.

Tara blinked, "Come again?"

"That rider is actually a girl, not a guy," Alex explained, "The same one that just transferred into pretty much all of my classes."

"Ouch, talk about dramatic irony." Tara said grabbing her shoulder. "Speaking of…" She added poking Alex in the cheek that Shiore sliced, "You hurt anywhere?"

"I'll live," Alex rubbed his cut cheek. He picked himself up from the ground and began to make his way down the hill, "I'll see you around… alright."

"Hey!" Tara shouted, "Where are you going?"

"Home," Alex returned keeping his back turned to Tara, "Where else would I go?"

"Hold up there bucko!" Tara shouted running past Alex and snatching his backpack away from him, "You aren't going anywhere!"

"Tara!" Alex grunted making several attempts to take his bag back from her, "Give that back!"

"No!" Tara returned, playing keep away with Alex's bag, "Not until Cole gets here… We still need to figure out what we're going to do about the snow girl."

"Fine," Alex pouted, "but as soon as Cole gets here I'm leaving."

Tara let out a small sigh, "thank you… Alex."

"Was this one of the complications you spoke of?" Vainglory asked to Rylee who knelt before him.

"Yes my commander," Rylee returned, "It seems that, despite my efforts, Ryu-O's activation test and immediate feral state caused a few civilian casualties… One, I believe, is the white rider that has just appeared."

"So all four have been gathered," Vainglory sighed.

"It would appear so," Rylee returned, "What do you plan to do?"

"No point in worrying about it," Vainglory proclaimed "so long as there at odds with one another. After all, we have more important matters to attend to and I won't allow anyone to get in the way of the birth of my perfect world."

"Yes, of course..." Rylee said bowing her head to Vainglory, "and… what about Fury?"

"Fury is a lost cause," Vainglory stated, "My new world has no place for vermin like him. It's what's best for the dream we both share." Vainglory raised an eyebrow, "Unless of course... you have your doubts Spite."

Rylee shook her head, "No, of course not."

"Very good," Vainglory said with a warm grin. "Now then," He added as he rose from his seat, "we must carry on with appointing a commander to take Fury's place at my side… Now."

"Are you sure he's strong enough to handle it?" Rylee asked.

"Carter is one of your children," Vainglory stated, "surely one with your blood coursing through their veins holds the strength necessary to wield the power of a dragon's flame."

"I-I… I understand my lord," Rylee returned, "I shall send for him immediately."

Rylee quickly rose to her feet and excused herself from her commander's chamber before heading out the two large doors at the front. Vainglory sat back down in his throne.

He took in a deep breath, then exhaled, "It's good to know that you remain loyal to me Spite," he pulled out a silver gaia memory marked with a golden F and held it gently in the open palm of his right hand, "unlike some."

Shiore stood perched atop the roof of a tall building looking down to the street below. She held her gaia memory in her hand gripping it tightly.

"It doesn't make any sense," Shiore proclaimed, "why would the heirs of the Iwa and Tatsumaki clans side with a Hono clan member?" she sighed as she let her arm fall to her side, "and why wouldn't Hono fight back?... Ni-san," She sighed, "this is all very confusing."

"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" a voice called out. Shiore pulled out a kunai knife and threw it behind her in the direction of the voice. She turned around to see Derek standing behind her twirling the knife in his hand, "now now, there's no need for such violent behavior… yet."

"Who are you?" Shiore demanded.

"Who am I isn't important," Derek stated, "though what I am… is the same as you."

Shiore raised an eyebrow, "How exactly?"

"We are people that act for own our desire," Derek proclaimed, "Mine is for power, and yours is for blood. We take action based on what we crave, though left unchecked… our desire might consume us."

"Where are you going with this?" Shiore asked.

"We both could use someone to keep us in line, and someone to aid in our efforts. A brother, or sister if you'd rather, in arms is one way you could look at it," Derek suggested, "So how about it Yuki… do we have a deal?"

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

"So let me see if I've got this right," Cole said scratching his head a bit, "so that blue haired girl that transferred into our class this afternoon is the rider that attacked us at the construction site?"

"That's pretty much how it is," Tara returned, swinging Alex's backpack over her shoulder. "Though we're still confused over one thing… what exactly was with those names she kept bringing up? Iwa, Hono and… Uzumaki?"

"Tatsumaki," Alex interjected.

"Oh yeah," Tara shouted back with a smirk and the snap of her finger, "that's the one. Thanks Superstar, knew we could count on you."

"Don't mention it," Alex grunted, "Now will you give me back my bag so I can leave already?"

Tara smacked Alex over the top of his head and swung it back over her shoulder, "NO!"

"Ugh!" Alex sighed, "Why not?"

"Because," Tara pouted, "You might not be a rider no more but you still need to hear this stuff."

"You know what?" Alex sighed, "Keep the bag, I'm leaving." Alex walked, passed Tara and began to make his way down the hill to the street below the school, though he did not get far as Cole stuck his arm out in front of Alex preventing him from moving any further. He looked Cole in the eye, "What are you doing?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Cole returned.

"Just get out of the way," Alex demanded.

Cole raised an eyebrow, "Do you think Fury would move if you asked him?"

"I'm not having this conversation right now," Alex said as he lifted Cole's arm and inched his way under it.

"You might not be," Cole said as he grabbed Alex by the wrist and twisted Alex around to face him, "but I am." Alex turned his head away from Cole, "Look at me!" Cole shouted as he grabbed Alex's chin and looked him dead in the eye, "I know you're torn up about what happened, but you can't just run away from your problems… because I won't let you."

"But, I-I…" Alex hung his head, "All I just keep screwing up, then others pay the price… That's why I'm better off alone."

At that moment Cole punched Alex square in the face knocking him to the ground, "Don't you dare say that about yourself!" He cracked his knuckles, "You ever do, let's just say you'll think that punch was a little pat on the back compared to what I'll do to you."

"Sorry," Alex whispered.

"Sorry is right," Cole said, "You think Sarah or Madison would like to see you like this? You think they'd be happy seeing you the way you are now?"

"Cole that's enough," Tara said placing her hand on Cole's shoulder, "We still have that other rider to attend to. "

Cole nodded, "I guess you're right," he said as he took Alex's bag from Tara. He threw the bag to the ground by Alex's feet, "I guess I'll see you around then." He hopped onto his bike and revved the engine, "Mope all you need to, just don't put all the blame on yourself while you do it. Otherwise... I'll never forgive you."

Cole kicked off from the curb and drove his bike down the hill.

Tara walked up to Alex and placed her hand on his shoulder before pulling out her glider and taking off into the skies.

Alex looked up to the sky and watched as Tara vanished behind the cloud layer. He rose to his feet and picked up his bag. "GAH!" He shouted as he threw his bag to the ground, "What the hell am I supposed to do!"

He buried his face into the palms of his hands and sat back down on the side of the road. As he did, he caught a glimmer of light bounce into his eye that came from his bag. He looked over to his bag to see something familiar… and black gaia memory marked with an S.

Alex scurried along the ground and grabbed the memory and held it in the palm of his hand, "Tara you sneaking bitch," he said inspecting the memory, he then placed it back on the ground, "but what do you expect me to do with it?"

"Isn't that part obvious?" A voice called out.

Alex turned around to see a blond haired girl in black leather standing behind him, "... Ashley?"

"It's been a while," The girl said with a grin, "hasn't it Alex?"

"I can tell by the look in your eye that you're a rather smart child, as was I when I was your age," Derek proclaimed stepping towards Shiore, "All I needed was someone to help me polish my raw talents, as does everyone." He raised his hand to Shiore's face and ran his fingers down her cheek, "I could be that polish… if you'd like."

"I… I," Shiore said looking Derek straight in the eye. She then slapped his hand away,"... I'd rather die."

Derek's smirk turned to a somber frown, "Fine," he said as he slipped the black and blue gaia memories back into his pocket and holding the red one up to Shiore as he slapped his driver onto his waist, "have it your way then."

"RUTHLESS!" Derek's gaia memory shouted as Derek rammed it into his driver, "RUTHLESS! FURY!" Crimson red flames engulfed Derek as the armor of his Ruthless form was forged onto his skin.

"I shall warn you though," Fury cackled, "I won't hold back."

"Good," Shiore returned pulling out her own gaia memory before unzipping her sweater unveiling her own driver with the wolf head buckle, "because neither will I."

Shiore slammed her gaia memory into the slot on the side of her belt and ran it along the strap to the buckle at the front, "Yuki!" her driver shouted as a layer of ice formed around her which quickly shattered to bits revealing her in her white samurai armor.

She drew her sword from the sheath on her belt and aimed it at Fury, "Count your sins… for now you shall atone for them."

"How can I?" Fury said with a smirk, "There are too many to count them all."

"HOLD IT!" A voice called out from above.

Shiore and Fury looked up to the sky to see Cole in his rider form fall down from the sky and smack the ground in front of Shiore, a fully armored Tara gracefully descending shortly after.

"Warn me next time before you do that!" Cole shouted at Tara as he jumped to his feet.

"He he sorry about that," Tara laughed awkwardly scratching the back of her head, "wasn't enough time to. Besides at least you landed on your… face?"

"Remind me why I agreed to work with you again?" Cole asked.

"Ah that doesn't matter right now," Tara proclaimed patting Cole on the back, "we've got…" Tara quickly noticed Shiore standing behind Cole, "Oh crap not you again!"

"I was just thinking the exact same thing," Shiore's proclaimed, "only far less aggravatingly loud."

"GRRR!" Tara growled, "Why I outta!"

"Are you two going to finish bickering soon?" Derek asked, "because I'll just kill you right now so you can argue in hell."

"You shut up!" Tara shouted, "If you're that eager to fight let's just do that right now!"

Fury smirked, "If you insist."

-  
"So, you just got out of prison then?" Alex asked to Ashley who sat next to him on a bench not far from where Tara and Shiore fought only moments ago.

"Well, not exactly," Ashley returned, "I'm on parole at the moment and I've still got a few loose ends I need to tie up. However, that by the book hard ass Marcoh says that if I can walk the straight and narrow for the rest of high school I should be good. But hey all I need to do is not steal, I mean how hard can that be?"

"I see," Alex said, "so… how have things at home been then?"

"Well…You see, I-I mean…" Ashley tried to find the right words to say but then hung her head, "Look Alex there was one thing that's been on my mind since I got back on the streets. You see, I've really wanted to thank you." She bowed down in front of Alex, "You helped me get my life in order and I'm forever in your debt… so if there is anything that I can do for you, all you need to do is ask and I'll do my best to make it happen."

"Can you wind back time to a couple months ago and have me stay home on the day that we met at the waterpark?" Alex asked, "Because that's the only thing that would help me at the moment."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, "Why would that help?"

"If I had never gone to the waterpark that day, I would have never met Madison, she would have never developed a crush on me," Alex buried his face in the palms on his hand, "and then maybe she could've gone out with someone else and Sarah would still be here."

"Oh… sorry," Ashley said quietly. She thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers together, "you know… I went to see Madison in the hospital before coming over here."

"How is she?" Alex asked.

"She seems to be doing pretty well all things considered." Ashley stated, "I mean she's awake so that's a plus. Though according to the doctors she hasn't been able to remember anything of this past year… So, I can't say for sure."

"I guess that's for the best," Alex said hanging his head, "She's better off not remembering someone as pathetic as me. I set out to protect this city, but I couldn't protect Madison, Sarah or even my mother when it mattered… what good am I if I can't even protect the people I care about the most from my enemies?"

"But you did... more than you realize." Ashley said wrapping her arms around Alex, "What happened to Sarah sucks but it wasn't your fault, so you shouldn't blame yourself for it."

Alex turned to Ashley, "then why do I feel this way?"

"Because you're human," Ashley said with a grin, "Do you know why people wish are stars Alex?"

"No," Alex returned, "why?"

"Because even when the night is cold and dark, the stars remain to light the way. They see what people going through hard times can't," Ashley proclaimed, "I find it rather amazing that even after so many centuries of war and heartache, the stars remain as bright and full of warmth as they did when they were first born."

"What's your point exactly?" Alex asked.

"Well, put simply," Ashley said holding up Alex's Star gaia memory to Alex, "With their age comes wisdom, and people hope that if they wish upon a star that some of their wisdom shall be granted to them." She handed the memory over to Alex, "But that wisdom can only be given to one who is willing to listen."

"What would you wish for?" Alex asked.

"Me? I'm not really into that kind of stuff," Ashley said as she leaned back on the bench, "Although… if I had to make one wish. It be for you to help others in the same way that you helped me," Ashley placed the memory into Alex and closed his hands around it, "I'm asking you not as Ashley Haze, but as Shift. Use this to help others like me, that's all I want."

"But, what if I screw up again?" Alex asked.

"If you say you'll fail then you will, if you say you'll succeed then you will," Ashley proclaimed, "One more thing," in a mere instant Ashley grabbed Alex by the chin and brought her lips to his, held it for a few moments, then pulled away.

"What was that for!" Alex shouted.

"That kiss was from Madison," Ashley said with a grin.

Alex blinked, "... come again?"

"My guess is that with your reserved attitude that you were never able to gather the courage to plant one on old Maddy Paddy were you?" Ashley asked.

"Uh… no," Alex returned, "Guess I was a pretty shit boyfriend wasn't I?"

"Seems so. But hey, you got Maddy to like you so you must have been doing something right. You be sure to remember that alright?"

"Yeah sure I will," Alex pouted.

"and remember this as well," Ashley said as she grabbed hold of Alex's hands and held them close together in hers, "My wish is also partly from Madison, and Sarah too. So please, for myself Sarah and Madison, grant our wish to save all dopants you can from themselves if you can, no matter what it takes. Think you can do that... Kamen Rider?"

Alex nodded, "I will."

"Madison sure does know how to pick 'em," Ashley said with a grin, "Now then… isn't it about time you got going?"

"But, I don't know where I'm going," Alex stated, "How will I-"

"Trust in the star's light," Ashley interrupted, "listen closely and it will show you the way."

"Okay…" Alex raised the gaia memory up to his ear and closed his eyes, waiting patiently for a sound or a light or something. After a few moments, he heard the clang of two swords clashing accompanied by several explosions. He opened his eyes and sprung to his feet panting rapidly.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked.

Alex turned to Ashley and cleared his throat, "... I know where they are."

To Be Continued

{Insert Ending Theme - I'll Believe}

**Next time on Kamen Rider Xtreme: **

**As Cole, Tara and Shiore fight off Fury, Alex must decide to take up his driver once again or let his past rule him forever.**

**Will Alex reclaim his title as Kamen Rider?**

**and what of Shiore and her intentions?**

**All will be decided when Kamen Rider Xtreme continues with episode 20: Vows and Ancient Memories._Will you ride again Xtreme?_**


	4. Episode 20: Vows and Ancient Memories

**Episode 20: Vows and Ancient Memories**

Shiore dashed behind Fury and swung her sword at him with full force. Fury grabbed the dial on the side of his belt and turned it until a blue S appeared at the top under the red arrow.

"Shift! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as Shiore's sword phased right through Fury and she fell to the ground on the other side of him.

"A strong fire burns in your eyes young one, I like that," Fury stated, "Truly we can both benefited from a partnership. You'll have your revenge and I'll have a strong warrior as my second in command once I take over this useless rock. So… what say you?"

"A wolf hunts alone," Shiore said while gritting her teeth as she rose to her feet, "I've told you one and I'll tell you again... I'll never join the likes of you who use the power of the earth for selfish and unjust reasons."

Fury sighed, "Pity…" he said turning the dial on his belt until a silver S appeared until the arrow, "I really hoped that you of all riders would see things my way."

"Shredder! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as three large blades shot out of each of his forearms.

"Oh well, at least this way I'll be able to add the power of three riders to my own," Fury cackled, "NOW DIE!" He shouted as he raised his blades into the air and slashed them at Shiore knocking her back to the edge of the roof by Tara and Cole.

"Alright," Shiore grunted as she recovered from the blow, "I might have an idea of how we can beat this guy."

"Alright," Tara said looking back to Shiore, "shoot."

"Temporary truce," Shiore stated, "we deal with this guy and then we don't ever have to speak with each other ever again."

"Will you give up trying to kill Alex?" Cole asked. Shiore said nothing, "I'll take your silence as a no?... Well then, just know this. If you try to go after Alex you'll have to go through me. Got that?" Shiore nodded, "Good."

"Oh, speaking of," Tara said as she undid her driver from her wrist allowing Kree to change back into his bird form.

"A guardian… here?" Shiore asked.

"I'm not sure if 'guardian' is the word I would use, where more of partners in crime. I helped him out, so now he helps me out," Tara proclaimed, "Now go get Alex," she instructed to Kree before allowing him to take off into the air."

"Not sure what the point of sending for Subject X is, but it doesn't really matter to me," Fury cackled as he scraped the edges of his blades together, "because in a few short moments… you'll all be dead."

{Insert Opening Theme - Extreme Dream}

Alex road down a busy street on his bike, evading cars and other vehicles attempting to move as fast as he possibly could. He continued this tactic until he passed by a pair of familiar looking gates. Alex slammed on the breaks and took a closer look at the gates as well as the building that stood behind it.

"That's… the same hospital I woke up in," Alex said aloud to himself, "All those months ago." At that moment Alex heard the small chirp of a bird. He turned his head to see a yellow robot bird sitting perched on the dashboard of the X-Cyclone, "Kree?" Kree nodded a bit, a small grin appearing on Alex's face, "Good to see you pal."

The sound of blades clashing together then filled the air. Kree turned around to where the sound originated from.

"They need my help… don't they?" Alex asked.

Kree turned back to him and gave a small chirp.

"Ah, who am I kidding? Of course they need me," Alex said slapping himself in the face, "but how am I supposed to get to them in time?"

"You already know the answer to that… brave youth," A voice called out.

"Eh, who said that?" Alex asked looking around frantically.

"I did of course," The voice called out once again.

Alex looked to Kree who sat staring directly at him, "Kree… did you just?"

"Speak to you? Well of course I did," Kree returned, "do you see anyone else before you?"

"But… you're a bird? How are you talking to me!" Alex demanded.

"With my condition being what it was I was unable to communicate with you directly," Kree explained, "However, because of your strong bond with my partner I have since been able to speak with you telepathically."

"You can speak to people who are close with Tara?" Alex asked.

"Correct," Kree returned, "However, my connection with you seems rather weak in comparison to the other member of your group so I don't have much time to explain. Much how I am able to change my shape upon my partner will I am also able to share that ability with others so long as they are of the same morality as said partner."

Alex scratched his head, "I'm sorry... I don't follow."

"Allow me put it a bit more simply than," Kree returned, "Do you wish to fly Alex Darwin?"

Fury threw Cole and Tara to the ground as Shiore prepared one final strike against him. She charged at the raging dopant at top speed raising her sword above her head.

Fury switched the dial over to red F, "Flame! Maximum Drive!" the dial shouted as a ball of fire ignited in his hand. As Shiore came within swinging range of Fury, Fury grabbed her sword by the blade and punched in her chest.

"You never learn," Fury said with a smirk, "do you?"

"Funny," Shiore returned, "I was just about to say the same thing."

Fury looked down to see that where he had hit Shiore had become a puddle of water by his feet. Shiore then melted right in front of him causing water to run down his arm and cover almost half of his body which quickly froze back into ice.

"Yuki! Maximum Drive!" Fury heard a gaia memory called out as Shiore reappeared directly in front of him.

"Now… Proceed on your way to oblivion," Shiore said raising her sword high above her head as several blades made of ice formed around her. "Diamond Snowstorm!" She shouted as she swung her sword down towards Fury causing every blade around her to hurl themselves at the dopant standing frozen in front of her.

The blades rammed themselves into Fury one by one causing him to go up a icy blue blast of fire and ice.

"Well…" Cole panted as he got back on his feet, "thank god he's dead." Cole turned to the yellow rider that stood beside him, "How about you Tara? You doing alright?"

"You know it," Tara said as she punched Cole in the shoulder. She looked over to Shiore, "What do we do about her though?"

"Aren't you three celebrating a bit too early?" Fury cackled as he emerged from the smoke of Shiore's blast.

The three riders retook their stances and drew closer together.

"Crap damn it," Tara returned, "This guy just doesn't know when to stay down does he."

"Well then, I'd say it's about time that we make him," Shiore said.

Tara smirked under her mask, "I think I'm starting to like you Sayuri… real shame we're going to have to fight you after we're through with Fury if you ask me."

"Well if you ask me," Fury interrupted as he drew closer to the three riders, "I'd say it's about time that I show you my true power," he added as he turned the dial on his belt until a dark red R appeared below the arrow.

"Ruthless! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as the two mouths on Fury's shoulder armor opened wide and a giant ball of fire began to grow in each.

"Ruthless… MAELSTROM!" Fury shouted as the two balls of fire shot out of the mouths on his armor and hurled themselves at the three riders.

As the three riders braced for the impact a large tornado came down from the sky and encircled them both firing them right back at Fury, Fury jumping out of the way before they hit him.

Fury looked back for whatever it was that caused the tornado before looking up in the air to see a shadowy blur fly up from above before coming to a grinding touch down on the ground in between him and the riders. Once the blur landed, Fury was able to see that it was a black motorcycle with a red X emblazoned on the side. A pair of golden wings now adorned the sides of the bike and the face of an eagle had mounted on the windshield.

"I was wondering when you'd coming out of hiding… Kamen Rider," Fury said smirked. "But now I'm confused, didn't you quit after what became of that cute little girlfriend of yours?"

"You're right, I did," Alex said as he dismounted from his bike. He turned back to look at Cole and Tara who stood directly behind, "I've made some mistakes in the past and innocent people were forced to pay the price… However," he said turning back to Fury, "I'm no longer going to just sit by and watch others fight my battles for me."

"So… the short version?" Fury asked.

"I'm not going to allow anyone else to be harmed because of me, because I'm not going to let anyone with the intention of hurting them get anywhere near them," Alex stated as his driver materialized around his waist, "Not even you."

"Always jumping to extremes," Fury chuckled, "Who exactly do you think you are anyway?"

"I'm just the guy that's going to kick your ass," Alex returned as he pulled out the Star and Runner memories from his back pocket and held them up to Fury, "That's all you need to know."

"Not today," Fury said with a snap of his fingers causing several explosion to go off around Alex and the other three riders knocking them all to the ground along with portal opening up behind Fury. Alex looked back to the portal to see that Fury had already jumped into it.

Alex gritted his teeth, "Get back here!"

"It's been fun riders but I think that it's time we take a little bit of a break for today," Fury said as three black beasts jumped out of the portal in his place, "But just so you don't feel lonely, this lot should be more than enough company…" He smirked as the portal closed behind him, "Enjoy."

Tara ran over to Alex, "Superstar! You alright?" she asked helping him up to his feet as Kree detached himself from Alex's bike and returned to his place around Tara's wrist.

"Yeah I'm fine," Alex returned as he got back on his feet. Alex looked over to the other two riders, "Shiore… I know we haven't exactly gotten off to a good start, but do you think maybe you could help us out just this once?" Shiore nodded, Alex returned with a grin, "thank you."

"Okay, now that that's out of the way, how's about dealing with these guys?" Tara suggested pointing over to the three beasts that encircled the group. "Wouldn't you agree Cole?"

"Well it's not like I have a choice at the moment do I," Cole said snarkingly.

"Great!" Tara shouted with a smirk, "So Superstar, what's the plan?"

"Same as always," Alex said placing his two memories into their corresponding slots on his driver, "We fight together."

"Great to have you back pal," Tara said patting Alex on the back as she Cole and Shiore formed into a line alongside Alex.

"Great to be back," Alex returned, "Now, let's end this… Henshin!" He shouted as he split the slots of his driver apart.

"Star! Runner!" Alex's driver called out as his black and red armor formed around him, Shiore taking note of it in the corner of her eye.

"Tara, let's go!" Alex shouted as he dashed over to the beast up in front, Tara following on the other side of it.

The two encircled the beast and ran around it several times as their speed increased rapidly as a tornado began to form in the gap between them lifting the beast into the air.

Alex and Tara flipped back and Alex singled Tara, "Finish it!"

"On it!" Tara returned as she pulled out her slicer and placed her gaia memory into the hilt.

"Gale! Maximum Drive!" Tara's gaia memory called as the blades of her slicer split apart

Tara then shouted "Gale Tornado!" before hurling her slicer at the beast suspended in the air tearing it to shreds upon impact.

Alex then turned on his heel and ran over towards Cole, "Cole, Smash!"

Cole knelt down on one knee and rest his hammer on his shoulder as Alex jumped up onto the head of the hammer. "Going up!" Cole shouted as he swung his hammer around and launched Alex into the air, Alex switching his Star and Runner memories out for Blade and Kicker.

"Blade! Kicker!" Alex's driver called out as his armor changed from red to green and the Bla-Jalibur formed in his right hand upon descending upon the second beast with one quick swing of his sword.

Cole then removed his rock memory from his driver and placed it into the slot at the top of his smasher, "Rock! Maximum Drive!" The memory shouted as the blade on the back of the hammer flipped to the front forming an axe.

"Rock Gasher!" Cole shouted with two swings of his axe causing two green blades of light to shoot out of blade at the second beast causing it to explode on impact.

The four riders then turned to the third and final beast. Alex approached Shiore and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Ready?" Alex asked.

"Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it," Shiore returned.

"Alright then," Alex said removing the Blade and Kicker memories from his driver and replacing them with Blast and Diver, "freeze it."

"Blast! Diver!" Alex's driver shouted as his armor changed from green to blue and the Bla-Jalibur was replaced with his Corona Blaster.

"As you wish," Shiore said as she placed her hand on the ground causing a line of ice to shoot out from her hand and connect to the beast's feet freezing it where it stood. "Now what?"

"One final blow," Alex said as he removed the blast memory from his driver and placed it into the top of his blaster.

"Blast! Maximum Drive!" The Corona Blaster shouted as Alex aimed it at the final beast, Shiore placing her hand over top of it.

"Freezing Blast Charge!" Alex shouted pulling back on the trigger as a thousand shards of ice fired out of the barrel of his blaster at the last beast destroying him almost instantly. Shiore then removed her hand as Alex let his arm fall down to his side.

"Yahoo! Go Superstar! Go Snow Woman! Go Cole!" Tara shouted as Alex and Shiore both removed their gaia memories from their drivers returning to their civilian forms.

Shiore then began to walk away from Alex over to the edge of the roof.

"Hey, where are you going?" Alex asked.

"I made a mistake. You aren't the one I'm looking for," Shiore stated, "Sorry for the confusion, you don't have to deal with me any longer."

"Wait a second, if you're looking for someone why not let us help you?" Alex asked back.

Shiore stopped for a moment then turned back to Alex, "You would do that… for me?"

"Of course," Alex returned, "however, I do have one request."

Shiore raised an eyebrow, "What would that be?"

"I want you to tell us everything that's going on," Alex request, "You think you can do that much for us… Shiore?"

"Yes… you three deserve that much at least for all the trouble I've caused you," Shiore nodded, "But it can't be here. I have a condo that isn't very far from here, I can tell you everything there."

"Thank you Shiore," Alex said bowing slightly.

"No… it is I who should be thanking you," Shiore returned, "Now… let's get going. It's quite a long story and the quicker I can begin the better."

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

Derek pushed through the large doors that led into Vainglory's main chamber and made his way up to the throne where Vainglory was currently sitting.

"Alright Vainglory," Derek said pointing a finger at his commander as the doors closed behind him, "I'd say it's about time w-"

"Hold your tongue Fury," Vainglory demanded, "You've been a pain in neck for long enough as it is, and you are not going to interrupt this with your idiotic ambitions."

"Idiotic ambitions?" Derek asked, "What could be so important to put my so called 'idiocy' on hold my dear commander?"

Vainglory leaned back into his throne, "Carter… you may come in now."

The doors opened once again as a young lad who looked to be about Alex's age walked through. He had short messy brown hair and fiery red eyes and a black collar around his neck. The clothes he had on were fairly simple, black pants and shoes along with a plain red shirt with a black sideways moon pattern with three three spikes jutting out the bottom of it along with a single spike in the crevice.

"So, you're recruiting children now are you?" Fury asked.

"Spite restrain him," Vainglory said as Spite pulled out her whip and prepared to strike Derek around his wrists with it.

"Now now," Derek said raising his hand to Spite and stepping off to the side, "There is no need for that here." He turned to Vainglory, "Excuse my incompetence my lord, I was simply verifying what it was that you were up to is all."

Vainglory raised an eyebrow, "Who exactly are you trying to fool Fury?"

"Only a cat of a different coat, that's all the truth I know," Derek said with a smirk. He then bowed his head to Vainglory, "Now please… proceed."

Spite placed her hand on Derek's shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Don't think that you're fooling anyone, because if you try anything I will kill you."

"Why I wouldn't even dream of it," Derek returned, "After all whether it has a coat of gold or a coat of red a lion still has claws." He turned away from Spite and focused his attention on Vainglory, "and mine are long and sharp my lord," He thought to himself, "as long and sharp as yours."

The front door to a highrise condo opened as Shiore stepped through. She slipped her shoes off and placed them gently against the wall to the right of the door.

"Please, come in," she said bowing slightly to Alex, Cole and Tara along with Kree who was perched on Tara's shoulder.

"Okay," Tara shrugged. She took a few steps forward into the condo before Shiore stuck her arm out in front of her. "What?"

"Shoes," Shiore scowled.

Tara looked down at her feet then back to Shiore, "But… I'm wearing boots."

"Doesn't matter," Shiore returned, "take them off."

"Fine," Tara sighed before reached down to her boots and undoing the laces.

Shiore looked back to Alex and Cole.

The two blinked for a moment before cluing in to what Shiore was saying through her gaze, "Oh right," the two said before slipping off their shoes and placing them next to Shiore's.

Tara hopped on one foot trying to get her boot off, "Come on… you… stupid… piece of-"

Shiore rolled her eyes and grabbed the bottom of Tara's boot and pulling it right off causing Tara to lose her balance and fall to the ground, Kree flying off Tara's shoulder and on to Cole's. Shiore then grabbed Tara's other boot and slipped it off before throwing both of them on top of Tara.

Tara blinked her eyes in a daze, "... thank you."

"Baka," Shiore sighed.

"The heck does that mean?" Tara asked.

"You're welcome," Shiore returned.

"Oh…" Tara said looking up to the ceiling, "okay then."

"I'll go make some tea," Shiore said as she made her way passed Tara and disappeared around the corner to the left, "you three just… make yourselves comfortable."

Alex and Cole snickered a bit.

"What's so funny?" Tara growled glaring at the two.

"Nothing!" The two shouted.

"Good!" Tara shouted back.

Cole knelt down over Tara and extended his hand out to her, "Need some help?"

"Thanks," Tara said as she grabbed Cole's hand and pulled herself up off the floor, Kree jumping back onto her shoulder from Cole's. Tara turned around, her eyes widened as the rest of Shiore's condo came into view.

The room was fairly bare with a single small table and four cushions placed around it along with a flat screen tv placed hung up on the wall to the left and a two seater couch against the right. A large glass window spanned across the back wall

Tara's jaw dropped, "... Woah, check out the view!" She shouted as she grabbed Cole by the wrist and ran over to the window.

Alex took a few steps forward before taking in a whiff of an odd scent of something burning, "Is that…" He thought for a moment trying to figure out what the smell, "incense?" He looked into the kitchen, "Hey Shior-" he then caught a glimpse of Shiore reaching for a cup on the top shelf of a tall cupboard but just couldn't get at it.

Alex walked up to the cupboard and grabbed the cup from the top.

"Here you go," He said with a grin as he handed it to Shiore.

Shiore blinked for a moment before grabbing the cup from Alex and placed it on the counter next to three others of a similar design. She turned her back to him and walked over to a white stove that had a single kettle resting on it slowly being brought to a boil.

She turned slightly back to Alex but avoided looking directly at him, "… thank you."

"You're welcome," Alex returned, "Anything else I can help you with?"

"No," Shiore said tending to the kettle on the stove, "I have everything taken care of."

"Alright just checking," Alex stepped slowly back over to the entranceway he came through, "Just you know shout if you need anything okay." He said before quickly leaving the room.

"I try to kill him and he's the one asking me if I need anything…" Shiore whispered to herself. "Alex Darwin, you sure are an interesting one," she sighed as she looked up to the ceiling, "To be able to forgive someone so easily. I wonder, what gives you the strength to do that?"

Alex stepped into the living room where Cole and Tara were. By this time Tara was sprawled out on the couch with her feet up on the armrest and Cole was by the window looking over the city.

"Everything okay?" Cole asked.

"Yeah," Alex returned as he walked over to the small table and sat down on one of the cushion in front of it.

"Something happen?" Tara asked.

"Nope. I just offered to help and she said she was fine," Alex explained, "nothing else to it."

"Oh… alright then," Tara returned, "By the way I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"Well… I'll admit it was pretty cool and everything but…" Tara began as she sat up straight and looked directly at Alex, "How exactly did you manage to combine that bike of yours with Kree's glider form?"

"It just sort of happened," Alex explained, "It was Kree that suggested it actually."

Tara raised an eyebrow, "You serious?"

"Yeah…" Alex returned, "why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you must've hit your head or something because that's impossible," Tara said snickering a bit, "There's a lot of crazy stuff in this world Superstar, but a bird that can talk? That's pushing it a little don't you think?"

"But…" Alex looked over to Kree on Tara's shoulder who looked back at him through his green mechanical eyes. He sighed, "I guess you're right… I must've imagined it or something."

Tara nodded a couple times, "Yeah, that's basically what I thought," she said stretching out her arms and letting out a rather loud yawn, "Anyways I guess that's not really all that important. Right Cole?"

"Right," Cole returned turning his attention back to his companions, "what matters is that we figure out who it is that Shiore is after and then think of a way to find them.

"Good to know we're all on the same page," Tara said as she lifted her feet up and rested them on the table, "After all that's the whole reason why we'r-"

Just then, a blur whipped across Tara's face as she just barely dodged it by ducking. Tara slowly looked up see a kunai knife just inches above her head, the three then looked over to where the knife came from to see Shiore standing tapping her foot with a tray holding four cups on the other side of the room.

"Tea is ready," She said coldly as she walked over to the table and placed one the four cups at each end.

"Uh… mind telling us what the hell that was?" Tara demanded.

"Feet," Shiore returned avoiding eye contact with Tara, "They should remain on the floor."

"You told me to make myself at home!" Tara shouted.

"I told you to make yourself comfortable," Shiore retorted, "Even if I did, do you have such little respect for your own property to rest your feet where others eat food?"

Tara scratched the back of her head, "Well… no, it's just that-"

"It's just that you what?" Shiore interrupted glaring at Tara, "Have no concern for the personal space of others?"

"Wasn't there something important you were going to tell us!" Tara shouted back.

Shiore's right eye twitched, "You're one to get right to the point… I guess that's one positive about you Tatsumaki."

"That's another thing," Tara said as she slid off the couch and over to the cushion on the floor in front of her, "What's with all this Tatsumaki business?"

"So you three don't know of the four great clans then, and where the gaia memories you have originally came from?" Shiore asked. The trio shook their heads in unison. "Alright then," Shiore said taking a sip of her tea, "I allow me to start at the beginning then." Shiore dipped her index finger into Tara's tea and placed it near the centre of the table.

"Hey!" Tara shouted, "Weren't you the one complaining about personal space?"

"It's my table I can mess up it as I see fit,"

"Won't your folks be mad when they get back?" Tara asked.

"No… now, on to business," Shiore said as she drew a line with her finger, "long ago, a being known simply as Sekai maintained peace and balance in the world. But this peace was not to last as eventually, a dark destroyer emerged and threatened to crush all that Sekai had built and leave her…" Shiore struck another line through the one she had already drawn, "with nothing."

"Wait… but how come we're all here today then?" Alex asked.

"Simple," Shiore said moving her over the four corners over the cross on the table, "Sekai summoned the assistance of four of her strongest guardians. Okami the wolf, Tori the eagle, Ryujin the Dragon and Gaia the minotaur," she then drew four characters around the cross in the clockwise order of 氷風火土, "Each one upheld one of the earth's many elements, Okami of Ice, Tori of wind, Ryujin of fire and Gaia of earth."

"and I'm guessing that through the help of these four beasts and the magic of friendship that Sekai was able to prevent the world's destruction?" Tara asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, not exactly," Shiore said with sorrow in her voice, "Even with the help of the four guardians, Sekai was only able to put the destroyer into a state of deep slumber… and at a terrible price. Sekai was forced to seal herself away along with the destroyer."

"And the guardians?" Cole asked, "What became of them?"

"She intrusted them guardians with the task watching over her as she slept until the day that they would be needed to fight fight the destroyer once again… however she did not want them to do it alone," Shiore proclaimed, "It was then that Sekai instructed them to seek out a companion, someone to share their power with and help it to grow. The four that ended up being chosen were Ryoko Hono, Takeshi Shirayuki, Daichi Iwa and Kaoru Tatsumaki and each one of them received a gaia memory containing a portion of their respective guardian's power." Shiore placed her yuki memory onto the surface of the table, Tara and Cole holding their memories in the palms of their hands, "These of course were the gaia memories that three of us now hold."

"and… the fourth?" Tara asked.

"That's where things get complicated," Shiore proclaimed, "each of the four memories and their respective drivers were passed down from parent to child and for nine generations, peace and order was maintained by the four clans that were formed under the power of the elements."

"They must've been rather close huh?" Alex asked.

"Indeed they were," Shiore returned, "However… it was not meant to last."

"Did the destroyer return?" Cole asked.

"No," Shiore said, "What tore them apart… came from within. You see, for reasons I'm not sure of, the guardians were forced to seal themselves away as well but the memories they gave to their companions ancestors remained. Then things took a turn for the worse when Ryuga, the ninth head of the Hono clan, fell in love with Haruka Tatsumaki… but she had already been betrothed to another."

"What did Ryuga do?" Tara asked.

"He pleaded with Haruka and begged that she accept his feelings for her, but she the person she was set to marry was someone who she cared for very deeply." Shiore looked Tara in the eye, "and with no other options, Ryuga decided that if he couldn't be with Haruka then he wouldn't let anyone else be with her either… and so he killed Haruka's beloved and then killed her, destroying her driver along with the rest of her clan and taking Haruka's gaia memory to make sure that no one else would steal that last bit that remained of Haruka away from him."

Tara tightened her grip on her memory, "That's horrible…"

"What about Ryuga?" Alex asked, "what happened to him?"

"His actions sparked anger between the Hono clan and Iwa and Shirayuki clans," Shiore explained "The tension between the three quickly escalated into a ten year war between the Hono, Iwa and Shirayuki Clans which eventually came to an end with Ryuga's own life being claimed by his brother Ryusei."

"And Ryusei?" Alex asked, "what happened to him and the rest of the Hono clan?"

"As punishment for his brother's actions, Ryusei vowed to not allow his blood line to continue and the Hono clan ended with his death several years later." Shiore explained, "After that, the remaining two clans slowly died out and disbanded, leaving only their drivers, memories and legacy behind."

"That's all well and good," Cole said, "but… how exactly does all that relate to what's going on now with us?"

"Well you see, the last head of the Shirayuki clan was someone very close to me," Shiore stated, "and he was killed by someone under the guise of Ryu-jin's mask and I fear they carry the same wrath as Ryuga Hono. The last head of the Shirayuki clan entrusted his driver to me and I attempted to kill the savage right then and there… however, he was snatched away by some green haired woman who called herself Spite."

"So you tracked her here and confused me with the guy you were tracking… is that about right?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Shiore returned, "and now I must ask you three," she placed her hand over her knees and bowed her head to the three riders before her, "I know I've caused nothing but trouble for you since I've arrived here in your city, but if I can ask one thing of you I beg you… help me prevent the flames of the past from resurfacing."

Vainglory sat leaning forward in his throne while Carter knelt before him. Derek and Rylee stood off to the side, Rylee biting her lip with a black case in her hand and Derek with his usual smirk.

"Carter Damon, son of Spite," Vainglory said to the boy, "Do you pledge undying loyalty to your commander, and swear to uphold order in your stead as one of META's elites?" Carter nodded, "Very good… now then," he turned to Rylee and extended his hand to her, "Spite, the driver and memory if you'd please."

"Of course," Rylee said walking over to Vainglory and handing the case she held in her hand. She bowed slightly before handing the case over to her commander.

"Thank you Spite," Vainglory nodded as he took the case from Rylee, "You may go now."

"My lord," Rylee bowed once more before returning to her place beside Derek.

"Nervous?" Derek asked.

"Of course not," Rylee returned.

"Don't lie to me," Derek said with a smirk, "I can smell it… you obviously fear for him," He placed his hand on Rylee's shoulder, "Though it's only natural for a mother to worry for her children."

Vainglory opened the case and walked over to Carter, "Now then, with your oath complete all that needs to be done is see if you are able to wield the power contained within this driver and memory," He turned the case to Carter to reveal a red gaia memory and circle shaped buckle with the face of a dragon in the center and four ruins around the rim, "But take heed, this is one of the most powerful memories in existence. If you cannot control it, it will consume you instantly… are you prepared for this?"

Carter nodded, "I am… my lord."

"That's good to hear," Vainglory said handing the case over to Carter, "you may proceed."

Carter took the driver and memory out of the case, holding them in his hands and inspecting them with his eyes. He slapped the driver onto his waist as two red belt straps shot out of each end and connected at the back.

He held the memory up to his eye and looked deep into the two dragons circling around each other forming an O shape on the label of the memory. He flipped the memory around and hit the button below the label, "RYU-O!"

Carter took in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, "Hen...shin!"

To Be Continued

{Insert Ending Theme - I'll Believe}

**Next time on Kamen Rider Xtreme:**

**With their newly found information, the riders must decide whether or not to help believe it and lend their assistance to Shiore as the flames of Ryuga's hatred begin to reignite.**

**What choice shall the riders make?**

**and will they be enough to prevent the tragedy of the past from repeating itself?**

**All will be decided when Kamen Rider Xtreme continues with episode 21: Rise and Fall.**  
**_Yuki, what horrors have your eyes seen?_**


	5. Episode 21: Rise and Fall

**Episode 21: Rise and Fall**

A towering inferno rampaged wildly in the center of Vainglory's chamber. The madness of it soon reduced itself as it shrunk it's size before quickly dying down, revealing Carter who had transformed into a crimson rider.

He wore red scale textured armor with two large deep red spikes forming his shoulder armor which curved upward. His helmet was primarily black that held a red mask with burning amber eyes and the horns of a dragon adorning it. The japanese kanji for fire had been emblazoned on his chest 火.

A small applause emerged from Vainglory, "You have stepped through the gates of the abyss and have come out reborn on the other side," he said as he approached Carter. "Now rise warrior of fire, wielder of the flames of destruction. Rise... Kamen Rider Ryu-O."

A slow applause filled the room, "Very impressive," Derek proclaimed as all eyes became fixed upon him, "When the riders pose a threat to your dream, you create a rider of your very own… but is it enough to take on the strength of the other three, I wonder?"

"What are you getting at Fury?" Spite asked as an orb of red energy formed in her hand.

"Spite… at ease," Vainglory instructed, Spite lowering her charge as the orb faded, "The strength of Ryu-O is surely more than a match for the other three… however, if you'd like to his strength you're more than welcome to."

"Oh I would gladly do so," Derek proclaimed as he pulled out his Ruthless memory and placed his driver around his waist, "but you see it's not his strength that concerns me."

"Then what is?" Vainglory asked.

Derek smirked, "It's whether or not he can prevent me from getting over to you."

"RUTHLESS! FURY!" Derek's memory shouted as he rammed it into his driver causing him to change into his Ruthless form before dashing over to Vainglory.

He turned the dial on the side of his belt until a silver S appeared, "Shredder! Maximum Drive!" the dial shouted as three large blades formed on Fury's forearms.

"DIE!" Fury shouted as he slashed his blades at Vainglory only to have them stop moments before they made contact. Fury returned focus on Vainglory to find a large buster blade holding back his strike. His eyes widened, "What the..."

"Fury, you have always been a fool," Vainglory said as a black spike shrouded in a violet aura formed in his hand, "and you shall die a fool."

Vainglory then threw the spike at Fury, Fury turned the dial on his belt to a violet M "Major! Maximum Drive!" the dial shouted as Fury raised his right hand along with a shield to block the spike, however the spike simply phased straight through the shield and burrowed itself deep within Fury's arm.

"AHHHH!" Fury writhed in agony as he fell to the ground clenching his right arm. "W-What the hell did you... do to me?"

"My perfect world only has room for those that I can trust. That spike is highly corrosive, it will devour you from the inside… then kill you," Vainglory explained, "I can remove it, but at a price."

"What will I have to do?" Fury asked.

"I only have room for one of you," Vainglory proclaimed, "In order to save your life you must earn… by taking it from Ryu-O."

"So if I kill him…" Fury panted looking over to Carter, "You'll remove it?"

Vainglory nodded, "Yes."

Fury smirked, "It would be my pleasure… my lord."

{Insert Opening Theme - Extreme Dream}

"Bull crap!" Tara shouted, "You expect us to believe all that mythical junk?"

"Believe it or don't believe it, either way it's the truth," Shiore said taking a sip of her tea, "Even so, it does not dismiss the reality of the situation we're in. If something is not done to halt whoever it is that holds the power of Ryujin then the entire world may soon go up in flames."

"She has a point you know," Cole said to Tara, "If this fire rider is left to roam freely, there's no telling what he could do."

"It's a lot to take in I know but let me just ask you this," Shiore said looking Tara straight in the eye, "Would you rather throw yourself into the fire that consumes the world, or simply sit back and watch it burn?"

"I don't know!" Tara shouted slamming her hands down on the table. She sighed, "Sorry, it's just that… at the moment all that I know is that I have absolutely no reason to trust you."

Cole placed his hand on Tara's shoulder, "Tara could you at least try t-"

"I need a moment," Tara interrupted brushing Cole's hand off her shoulder and walking out the front door slamming it behind her.

Alex looked over to Cole. Cole Sighed,"I'll… I'll be right back," he said as he got up and walked out the door after Tara closing it gently behind him.

"So what's the story on those two?" Shiore asked.

"Sorry, what was that?" Alex asked back.

"They seem close," Shiore proclaimed. "Are they… well, you know."

"I honestly can't say for sure," Alex shrugged, "They never tell me anything… why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Shiore returned.

"Uh… if you wouldn't mind me asking," Alex began, "Have you ever been close with someone… like that?"

Shiore looked at Alex in the corner of her eye for a moment, "Relationships like that serve no purpose to me," she said in a cold tone of voice, "They only make you weak, nothing more."

"Yeah," Alex sighed, "I guess I can sort of see where you're coming from."

"Getting back on topic," Shiore said taking one last sip of her tea before setting it down on the table. She turned to face Alex, placed her hand over her knees and bowed her head to him, "I've been nothing but trouble to you and your friends since I've arrived here. So please, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me and shall be forever in your dept and shall assist you in your mission, so long as you assist in mine."

"Yes… yes I-I mean we will," Alex nodded, "we'll be happy to help you out for however long you need it."

Shiore sighed in relief as she clapped her hands together, "Thank you."

A small beeping sound erupted from Shiore's school bag. She reached into her bag and pulled out a grey handheld device before hitting a button on right side of it with her thumb causing the screen to switch on and a small keypad at the bottom to spring open.

"What's that?" Alex asked.

"GMR scanner," Shiore returned, "When gaia memories are activated they release a surge of energy that spans across a minimum ten kilometer radius, though it varies depending on the memory. This device picks up those signals and pinpoints the direction and distance of the memories activation point. It also detects near by radiation left behind from recent or excessive usage of gaia memories."

"That's how you were able to find us wasn't it?" Alex asked.

"Correct, " Shiore replied, "and with how many you three had on you it was pretty easy."

"Figured as much," Alex returned, "So where are they anyway?"

Shiore hit a few of the keys on the pad, "seven point five kilometers south west," she said, tapping on the screen a couple of times, "and by the looks of things, it appears as though we've got two extremely powerful ones on our hands."

"That's pretty far away, and knowing my luck," Alex sighed, "I think we already know full well which ones they single belongs to."

Tara stormed down the hallway over to the elevator and slammed her fist on the down button.

"Come on come on come on," She whispered to herself, tapping her foot in rapid succession.

"Tara wait up!" Cole shouted as he ran up to her from down the hall.

Tara rolled her eyes, "What do you want Cole?"

"I just want you to talk to me," Cole returned, "Is something wrong?"

"I… I can't say," Tara said keeping herself turned away from Cole.

The door of the elevator opened as Tara stepped into it.

"Tara!" Cole shouted as he pulled her back and turned around to face him, "Just tell me… what's bothering you?"

Tara balled her hand into a fist, "It's just that… something about what Shiore said got to me. I just can't help but feel that I've heard somewhere before… I just, can't figure out where."

"Guys," Alex called out from the door, Tara and Cole turning their attention to him. He held the scanner in his hand, "You may want to come have look at this."

Tara and Cole came back in through the door, Alex shutting it behind them.

"What is it this time?" Tara asked.

"We may have found who Shiore has been hunting," Alex stated, "and Fury as well."

Tara turned to Shiore, "That true?" Shiore nodded. "Well then," Tara said trying to force her usual smirk while awkwardly cracking her knuckles, "we'll be killing two birds with one stone then! Let's get going people!" She turned on her heel and walked over to the door only to have her right foot slip out from under her.

"Woah!" Cole shouted, catching Tara before she fell over, "Easy there. You okay?"

"Thanks I'm fine," Tara said getting back on her feet with Cole's assistance.

"You sure?" Cole asked.

"Once I get up in the air I'll be fine," Tara proclaimed, "I'm a better flier than I am a runner anyway so don't worry alright."

"I think it might be better if you ride with me this time," Cole said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Cole I'm fine I swear," Tara grunted taking Cole's hand off of her shoulder.

"Tara please," Cole pleaded, "just this once."

Tara sighed, "Fine, I guess you're right… So long as I can drive."

"No way," Cole returned.

Tara's jaw dropped, "Why not?!"

"I just got the Rock Prowler, Marcoh would kill me if anything happened to it," Cole explained, "Besides, I've seen you in Double Dash."

"Fine I suck at driving!" Tara shouted, "There I said it, can we go now?"

"Certainly," Cole said opening the door and bowing to Tara, "after you."

"Thank you," Tara returned as she stepped through the doorway, Cole following shortly after, "Just don't go too slow this time alright."

"Promise," Cole said as he close the door behind the two.

Shiore looked over to Alex in the corner of her eye, "Still unsure?"

"A little bit yeah," Alex nodded, "That reminds me, do you have any form of transport?"

Shiore shook her head, "I normally walk."

"Alright then I got it," Alex said with a snap of his fingers, "so long as we're comrades you ride with me.. that alright with you?"

"Perfectly," Shiore nodded.

"Great," Alex said grabbing Shiore by her wrist, Shiore's heart skipping a beat, "now let's get going," he added with a grin, "we don't want those two to leave us behind do we?"

Fury and Carter stood on the roof of a tall skyscraper, they stared each other down a few feet apart as the wind whipped around them. Vainglory and Rylee stood to the side, Cheshire being held in Rylee's arms.

"I'll explain this once," Vainglory said grabbing Fury and Carter's attention, "This will be a sudden death duel. Winner takes their place at my side, loser dies… is that clear?"

Carter nodded.

"Crystal," Fury said with a smirk.

"Alright then," Vainglory said taking in a deep breath, "... begin."

On command, Fury and Carter launched themselves into the sky above the skyscraper, leaving the three commanders behind on the ground.

"So passes Derek Maverick, formerly known as Fury," Vainglory proclaimed. He turned to Rylee, "Be sure to wipe Fury's access data from our system."

Rylee nodded, "I'll get right on it."

"Good," Vainglory returned, "Fury won't go down easily. Even on the off chance that he does survive, as of now he is dead to us."

{End of Part A}

{Start of Part B}

Joel stood atop a tall bridge leaning against a steel rail, in his hand he held a scanner similar to the one Shiore had in her possession, "So the Ryu-O memory and driver have been successfully activated," he said to himself, "I wonder who the host is, must be someone strong. Ryujin wouldn't let just anyone wield his power."

Joel turned off the scanner in his hand and slipped it into his pocket.

"Though regardless of who it is," Joel said with a smirk, "he's going to be difficult to work with if Vainglory expects to control him. Even more so if he intends to remake the world with Ryujin's fire alone."

He looked to the horizon and took in a deep breath, "The minotaur will shake the earth, the eagle will bring the mountains to their knees, the wolf will freeze the shores and the dragon will burn what's left, and with their power combined they will destroy this world and create a new… the name of the dragon being Ryujin and the only one of the four we could make out when we found those damn memories."

As he spoke a blue butterfly flew up and perched itself on the rail of the bridge.

"Isn't that right?" he asked to turning his attention to the butterfly, "Alice?" The butterfly flapped it's wings twice, "I hope that legend never comes to pass, especially not by his hand." He let out a small sigh, "Though to be honest, I'm a little bit worried, about Alex… do you think he and the other riders will be strong enough?"

The butterfly rose it's wings until they touched at the tips then lowered them once again.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Joel said with sorrow in his voice, "Though, if I could be allowed, I at least hope that Thea gets out of this alright… poor girl has had enough trouble in her life, she doesn't need anymore heartache."

At that moment the butterfly flapped it's wings rapidly and took off into the air, Joel keeping his eyes fixed on it as it disappeared into the distance.

"No matter what comes, we all need to keep moving sooner or later," Joel sighed, "I think I know what I must do now." A small grin appeared on his face, "Thank you… Alice."

Fury charged at Carter in the open air using Flame's maximum drive to propel himself forward and keep himself airborne. Carter did the same only he instead used his suits own ability to keep himself lifted and a fair distance away from Fury via small thrusters the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet.

Fury hurled three fireballs at Carter as Carter evaded all three with ease before firing three of his own at Fury. Fury evaded those with equal ease before dashing over to Carter and elbowing him in the gut, with a second delay Fury then linked both his hands together in a single fist and smacked Carter over the head with enough force to send him plummeting down to the busy street below.

"Aw, did you die already?" Fury asked mockingly as he descended over the crater made by Carter, civilians running at the sight of the scene, "I expected for this to go a little longer but oh well, whatever moves my plans along faster I guess." he reached for the dial at the side of his belt, "but just in case…"

"Shredder! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as three large serrated blades formed around each of his wrists.

Fury began to make his way over to the crater before a single hand rose out from the void, Carter then using it to pull himself up and back onto his feet.

"So you still live I see," Fury said scrapping the edges of his blades together, "Should've figured as much. Oh well, guess it doesn't matter as you're going to be right back in the ground in a few moments anyway."

Carter snapped his fingers as a burst of fire ignited at his fingertips as a giant buster blade formed in his hand.

"Nice new toy you've got there," Fury said, "too bad I'm going to have to break it."

"Just try it," Carter returned, "It will just make it all the worse when you fail."

Fury gritted his teeth, "Man you certainly are a cocky one." Fury threw his blades at Carter, Carter parrying with his buster blade, "Guess that must run in the family!"

Fury struck Carter with both sets of his blades, Carter blocking both with the broadside of his sword. In one quick motion, Carter batted Fury's blades off of his and forced Fury back a few feet.

"Your good kid, I'll give you that…" Fury panted, "Unfortunately you're not good enou-" Before Fury could finish speaking his heart skipped a beat. He grabbed his chest and fell to his knees. His panting quickened, "Crap… not now…"

Carter walked up to Fury and grabbed his right arm pulling him to his feet. He placed the edge of his blade on Fury's right arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Fury shouted, "Stop it!"

"Shut up," Carter instructed.

Carter then raised his blade up until he was holding it over his head, both hands clasped around the handle tightly, his knuckles turning as white as a ghost under the suit. He let out a fierce roar as he threw his arms downward, the blade slashing through the air as he did so, it producing a slight whistling sound as it hit the wind.

Fury's eyes widened, everything around him seeming to slow to a halt. Carter's buster blade slammed down against the right upper bicep of his arm, cutting through the armor and straight into the skin. As the blade tore through his arm, blood spurted out high enough for it to fall down like rain, splattering against the two and anything close to them. The blade soon broke through the bone of Fury's upper arm, a cracking sound audible as it did so, before proceeding cleanly through the rest of the bicep.

Fury looked over to the side at his arm, blood continuing to spurt out. He watched in horror as his flesh slowly separated and his bone fully broke apart. Due to this, his arm from his mid upper bicep down would slide off from the rest of his arm, allowing more blood to cascade out of his arm rapidly. The only part of that portion of his arm being strings of flesh and a jagged pieces broken bone.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Fury shouted in agony as he fell to the ground holding tightly onto his arm, "You bastard… I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

"I'm sorry did you want to die?" Carter asked holding the now sevared half of Fury's arm up to him, "because if this arm remained attached to you for a second longer, you would have."

Fury raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you trying to kill me?"

"If that's how this is going to end I want it to be by my blade," Carter proclaimed throwing Fury's arm off to the side, "not by some handicap placed on you by Vainglory."

"You show mercy to me?" Fury laughed, "You're an even bigger fool than I imagined." He gritted his teeth and rose to his feet clenching his the gash where his arm used to be, "and even more so than your pathetic excuse for a bloodline."

"If you think my blood is weak…" Carter said raising his sword to Fury "why not prove that yours is stronger?"

Fury grabbed the dial on his belt and turned it until a blue M appeared at the top.

"Minor! Maximum Drive!" The dial shouted as four large spikes shot out of the ground behind Fury and hovered around him.

"Dear child..." Fury said smirked, "That's what I intend to do!"

Tara sat at the back of the Rock Prowler, her arms wrapped tightly around Cole and Kree locked around her wrist. Cole roared down the highway, Alex and Shiore just a few feet ahead of them on the X Cyclone.

"So… any idea of where you might've heard that story before?" Cole asked.

Tara shook her head, "Afraid not."

"Oh, I see…" Cole returned, "Is it possible you could've heard it from a friend or something?"

"Sorry," Tara sighed, "I honestly just don't know."

"Well, maybe we could try and jog your memory," Cole suggested, "Would that help?"

"No, that wouldn't help either," Tara said as she shook her head once again, "Besides, it would be completely pointless."

"Why is that?" Cole asked.

"Jogging my memory wouldn't work because I have no memory to jog," Tara proclaimed, "Truth is Cole… I barely remember anything about my life before I started high school."

"Wait what!" Cole shouted in disbelief, "What about that story you told me about how you met Kree and that white rider?"

"I did say barely didn't I?" Tara retorted, "Besides, that memory itself is fairly vague and even so it's all I have left."

"A-any idea when this all happened?" Cole asked.

"You remember that giant tornado that swept over the city ten years back? That one that wiped out half the population?" Tara asked, "Well apparently I was caught up in the centre of it, only it didn't hurt me in the slightest. The reports said that it instead wrapped around me as if it was trying to protect me from something, though of course I can't say if any of it is true or not. All that I do know is that I woke up seven years later in the hospital with a man and woman crying over me, and I just sat there not even knowing they were my mother and father… I didn't even know my own name."

"I had no idea…" Cole whispered, "Tara, no matter what happens I hope that someday you remember everything. Though if you do remember anything, anything at all please tell me right away alright?"

Tara thought for a moment, "... nah."

"Why not?" Cole demanded.

"I appreciate the sentiment but I honestly don't care if I get my memory back or whatnot," Tara proclaimed, "I don't care about who I was in the past, I'm only concerned with who I am right now…. although…" she said as her usual smirk appeared on her face, "If I ever remember anything embarrassing about a certain rock boy I know I'll be sure to let the whole world know."

"You do know I could crash this thing at any moment right?" Cole said coldly.

"Aw!" Tara pouted, "You're no fun!"

Alex kept his eyes fixed on the road in front of him while Shiore had hers on her scanner.

"How far now?" Alex asked.

"Three point six kilometers," Shiore returned, "We should be there shortly. Though looking at the single pattern, they'll come to us."

"Works for me," Alex said as he revved up the engine of his bike.

"You're overworking yourself," Shiore stated.

"How can you tell?" Alex asked.

"Your body heat is climbing at an unsteady pace," Shiore proclaimed, "You should learn to control your body's emotional state. You're enemies will use it against you if you're not careful."

"How exactly do I prevent them from doing that exactly?" Alex asked, "Taking advantage of a weakness I mean."

Shiore turned her attention to the road in front of her, "... don't show it."

Carter threw the one armed Fury down to the ground knocking over several trash cans as a result of Carter's force.

"Even if you cut my arm off, it's not going to be permanent," Fury said grabbing the nub where his right arm used to be and gripped onto it tightly with a smirk. After a few seconds his smirk turned into that of a more confused expression, "What's going on-"

"You'r Fury memory allows you to instantly heal any wounds sustained in battle, that's how you've managed to survive this long," Carter stated, "However, the regeneration process only covers damage done to your dopant form," Carter held the edge of his blade to Fury, "My Ryu-O Buster is sharp enough to cut right through the layer of armor generated by gaia memories and cut the flesh and bone that lies directly underneath."

"What the hell are you trying to pull kid!" Fury demanded.

"In short, you're not as invincible as you thought Maverick," Carter returned.

"Bullcrap!" Fury shouted back, "I am Fury! I am the ultimate!"

"Still delusional as ever," Carter said, "You do insist on fighting? This could be over right now, all you have to do is stop resisting."

"You're kidding right?" Fury cackled as he cracked his neck and forced himself back on his feet. He rose his head and looked up to the sky, "You don't know anything do you kid? I was a lot like you when I was your age, so naive.

"What do you mean?" Carter asked.

"I had a mother, a father and siblings that I cared for deeply. They made me happy, but I should've known that my so called happiness was not meant to last… nothing good ever is." Fury looked Carter in the eye, "My family and I found ourselves in the middle of a hostage situation. Every hour the kidnappers demands weren't met they killed a member of my family one by one. First my parents, then my siblings… and I was forced to sit there and watch."

Carter sighed.

"You don't believe me… do you?" Fury asked with a light chuckle, "After I determined that help wasn't going to arrive, I slit both of their throats and strapped them both for every bullet they put into my family. You understand now kid?" Fury cackled, "It doesn't matter what you do, you can't stop death no matter how hard you try."

"I guess we agree on something," Carter said balling his right hand into a fist, "Because as far as I'm concerned… one of us won't be coming out this alive."

"Looks like that's two things," Fury hissed, balling his hand into a fist as well. "Well then…" he smirked, "LET'S END THIS!"

"Shredder! Maximum Drive!" The dial on Fury's belt shouted as three blades shot out of his remaining arm before launching himself at Carter, clawing at him with everything he had left.

After a couple of clashes, Carter grabbed hold of Fury's with his right hand and grabbed the face of the dragon on his driver with his left.

Carter tightened his hold on Fury as the roar of an engine filled the air. He looked over to see two motorcycles, one black and one green, just a few feet away from where he stood. Alex and Shiore on the black and Cole and Tara on the green, all four of them in their rider forms and Alex in Star Runner.

A small chuckle came from Fury, "You know what I find particularly funny?" He asked Carter, though it seemed that he did not expect an answer as he continued talking regardless, "Even though I know full well what I did was terrible… I enjoyed every minute of it."

"You're twisted you know that?" Carter growled.

"Oh course I know that, the whole damn world is sick," Fury retorted, "The only difference with me is that I don't try to hide it."

"Then why tell me all this crap?" Carter asked.

"Because there's something else you should know," Fury returned, "The way the blood splurted out from those crooks, the rush of jabbing them until they could no longer move, it consumed me. I began to crave it, I began to crave the feel of fresh blood on my hands and the cold eyes of someone who was alive only moments ago," he cracked his neck and forced his gave over to the four riders standing a few feet away, "especially the blood belonging to the loved ones of anyone who thinks they can control me."

"I'll kill you before you can do harm to any of them," Carter proclaimed, crushing Fury's face even further causing cracks to appear in his armor.

"Just try and stop me!" Fury cackled, "It'll make it all the more satisfying when you fail!"

Carter turned back to Fury, "... if you insist."

With a quick flick of his arm, Carter sent the dragon head buckle spinning clockwise at high speed as fire began to ignite around the rim.

"Ryu-O! Maximum Drive!"

"Burn... Ryu-O Blaster!" Carter shouted as a blast of fire shot out of the cannon embedded in his palm engulfing Fury in flames and burning him to a crisp.

The fire slammed into Fury's body, almost immediately engulfing his entire body. As this occurred, Fury cried out viciously, his voice a combination of a scream of pain and laughter. The fire burnt through his armor until it revealed his human form, the heat of the flames burning his flesh right off of his body.

Fury continued to cry out as he was burnt alive, the fire burning through his skin right down to his muscle tissues, and in some places burning strong enough till there was nothing but bones left, collapsing into pieces as the fire ate them, they eventually turning into ash.

"MUHAHAHA! YOU SEE NOW VAINGLORY!" Fury laughed uncontrollably as he was burned alive. "DEATH IS SOMETHING THAT NO ONE CAN ESCAPE! NO ONE!"

Carter sighed, "It appears so… Derek Mavrick."

"So I've finally found you," Shiore said drawing her sword, "Kamen Rider, Ryu-O."

Carter tossed Fury's lifeless body to the ground and turned his attention to the white rider that stood before him. "Yuki… should've figured you would show up here."

"That voice…" Tara thought to herself, "It sounds… familiar."

"Indeed you should have," Shiore returned, pointing her sword at Carter, "and now you shall atone for the crimes you have committed."

Carter snapped his fingers summoning a burst of fire that formed into his Ryu-O Buster, "If you claim it to be… make it happen."

To be continued

{Insert Ending Theme - I'll Believe}

**Next time on Kamen Rider Xtreme**

**Shiore and Carter face off as Tara uneasiness continues to grow.**

**Will Shiore be able to exact her revenge against the wielder of fire?**

**And what connection does Tara have with this new rider?**

**All will be decided when Kamen Rider Xtreme continues with episode 22: Ash and Snow.**  
**_Ryu-O, what secrets do you hold?_**


End file.
